(By Raheel Adnan) Following the Nanga Parbat massacre, all climbers were evacuated from Diamir Base Camp and they are now returning to their home countries. The bodies of the deceased climbers are also being taken back to their respective countries. As per announcement by the government of Pakistan, senior officials will also fly with the bodies.

Miraculous Escape

Zhang Jingchuan, who incredibly survived the terrorist attacks, flew back to China on Wednesday. He shared further details about incident, "We were sleeping when they caught us. Our hands were tied and we were made to kneel on the ground. After they searched everyone, the massacre began. A shot was aimed at my head, but it missed. And I began to run and got to the valley."

It was probably the four years in military that helped him in saving his life. Zhang returned to BC after hiding for more than an hour and made the call for help. As per Polish Expedition report, he contacted his agency in Nepal (Seven Summit Treks), who in turn called famous mountaineer Nazir Sabir, the owner of agency NazirSabir Expeditions. Sabir was quick in approaching military resources, whose helicopters reached BC at around 6-7AM.

The only Pakistani murdered at Diamir Base Camp was Ali Hussain, a Shia Muslim cook and porter from Hushe, reports BBC. His body was shifted to his village on Sunday night (June 23). Apparently he was killed on sectarian basis. Father of 5 years old son and two daughters, BBC reports, that Hussain was the financial pillar of his large family.

Deceased Nepali climber, Sona Sherpa, leaves behind two sons and a young wife. He was sole financial supporter of his family. According to Sona’s family, he had already climbed Nanga Parbat in 2009 but was requested by the Chinese team to join as a mountain guide. He also has summited Everest three times and Makalu once. It’s expected that Sona’s body will be taken to Nepal by coming Monday (July 1).

As per Geo News report, Pakistani State Minister, Kamal Khan, was scheduled to fly to China today with the bodies of three Chinese victims, whereas Foreign Ministry official, Dr Saeed, to accompany the bodies of European climbers.

Rupal Side

Meanwhile the Romanians on Rupal side of Nanga Parbat reached 7200m a few days back and were moved by the view of Diamir side, thinking about the massacre and murders happened there just a couple of days back. After working on the Schell’s route for several days and managing to equip the route and camps for a summit push, the team started descending to lower camps. They want to continue the climb and make a summit push once the weather window arrives; but an official decision on the matter is still awaited.

The Attackers

Inspector General Gilgit-Baltistan police, Usman Zakaria, has claimed during a press conference on Wednesday (June 26) that sixteen terrorists involved in Diamir BC massacre have been identified. As per police chief, Diamer Jirga, a group of local elders has been instrumental in identification of the alleged attackers and is also helping in tracing the terrorists at large. "The culprits are within the territorial jurisdiction of Diamer and we will arrest them soon", Usman said. More than 30 suspects arrested previously have been released after interrogations.

Based in Lahore, Pakistan, telecom engineer and mountaineering enthusiast Raheel Adnan is a reporter for ExplorersWeb's mountaineering sections. He shares regular updates on Twitter and runs his own blog at AltitudePakistan posting initiated climbing news from Himalaya and Karakoram.